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Grow the Cov: What is Urban Agriculture?

Urban agriculture is the process of cultivating, processing, and distributing food within a city or town. It isn’t a new practice; both the Romans and the Ancient Egyptians used basic principles to feed their populations. Victory gardens were also used throughout both world wars in the U.S. to supplement food supply.

Urban agriculture has a variety of benefits:

Social: Creates common space throughout the community, increasing safety, education, and social engagement opportunities.

Economic: Nurtured green spaces can increase property value, create more market demand, and supply long term savings investments for low-­middle income families.

So what are we doing to help? In the upcoming months Grow the Cov is focusing efforts on providing people practicing urban agriculture with the resources they need for successful harvests. For example, the organic Super Soil from Evans Landscaping sponsored by the Covington Project from Devou Good is currently being distributed every Wednesday and Thursday in the month of April.

Want to get involved? Here are some opportunities to learn more and get your hands dirty:

Contact us if you are interested in gardening or learning more about our organization. As a cooperative gardening effort, our volunteers not only get to learn alongside farmers and master gardeners, but also get to take home fresh food!

The Great American Cleanup is April 25 and more information can be found about the event at www.keepcovingtonbeautiful.com. We will be at Orchard Park, if you need help at your community garden that day let us know! We’ll be planting, composting, landscaping, coop building, and doing general site maintenance.

If you are interested in starting your own garden, now is the time to be collecting everything your need for your season: soil, lumber, seedlings, tools and much more! Great local businesses for all your gardening needs include: Jackson Florist, Fedder’s Feed & Seed, Klingenberg’s and Garden Grove Organics.

So, maybe you just want to eat the farm-raised fruits and veggies without all the work? Then mark your calendars for Saturday, May 2! The Covington Farmer’s Market will be returning every Saturday morning through October 31. Watch out for our next installment in The River City News that will provide a sneak peek at who’s returning and our new farmers.